Recipe: Butter Cookies with Jam (sandwich cookies, Souvaroffs)

BUTTER COOKIES WITH JAM (SOUVAROFFS)

"This recipe belonged to Gourmet contributor Lillian Langseth-Christensen. Known as Liesl, she was an extraordinary writer and designer as well as a talented baker. She lived in a hunting lodge outside Vienna, where she developed recipes using American ingredients that she bought at the PX on a nearby U.S. military base. We have hundreds of her recipes, but we particularly like these buttery treats filled with apricot or strawberry jam. A little rum in the dough sets off its tangy sweetness."



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
1/2 teaspoon light rum or vanilla
2 tablespoons ice water
2/3 cup jam such as apricot or strawberry, heated and strained

MAKE THE DOUGH:
Into a bowl, sift together the flour and the sugar, add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles meal. Add the egg yolk, the rum, and 2 tablespoons ice water, toss the mixture until it is combined, and form the dough into a ball. Knead the dough lightly with the heel of the hand against a smooth surface for a few seconds to distribute the fat evenly, and re-form it into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in wax paper, for 30 minutes.

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Halve the dough, roll out half of it 1/8-inch thick on a floured surface, and cut it into rounds with a 1 1/2-inch fluted cutter.* Gather the scraps together, reroll them, and cut out more rounds. Roll out the remaining half of the dough 1/8-inch thick and cut out more rounds in the same manner. Cut out the center of half the rounds with a 1/2-inch plain round cutter to form rings.

Bake the rounds and rings in batches on greased baking sheets in the middle of a preheated 325 degree F oven for 12 minutes, or until the edges are faintly golden. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let them cool.

Sandwich the cookies together with the jam. After sandwiching the cookies, use extra jam to top off the centers.

*RECIPE NOTES:
1. Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment or wax paper.
2. For cleaner edges, chill or freeze the dough before and after cutting the rounds.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies
Source: The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe from Each Year 1941-2009 by Gourmet Magazine